Standing in Faith

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Welcome visitors

Introduction:

A right view of God's majesty.

Taking time to sit in awe of who God is and what He has done for us.

An experience with God doesn't vaccinate us from sin.

Our experiences must be an ongoing, abiding relationship.

Understanding the seriousness of committing to God.

Counting the cost of discipleship

I love where God brought Russ in this passage last week.

We have seen this slow build-up throughout this entire story.

Everything that God has done was leading up to this exact moment.

God has done all this work to restore the relationship with Israel.

This is the big ask for Israel. God has laid out all the cards and asked Israel if they want in.

As you discussed last week, Israel says together, yes, they will do all that the Lord has commanded.

In response, God calls Moses up the mountain to literally put all of it in writing.

This is the moment, just like when buying a house or a car, when you verbally agree to the terms, and the salesman goes to draw up the paperwork.

While Moses up on the mountain, it all falls apart.

A vigilant pursuit of God is paramount in our lives.

Exodus 24:12–18 ESV

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Exodus 32:1 ESV

1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Moses is up on the mountain with God.

Moses is up on the mountain with God.

Paint the picture: God is still present. The clouds are on the mountain, and they can see it, but somehow, they lose sight of what is happening.

Now, before we start judging Israel, let's take a moment and consider our own lives.

How often do you lose sight of what God is in the middle of doing in your life?

We are so quick to get bogged down (explain bogged down) and become completely unaware of God's activity.

How many times, just this week, have you thought about your call to join God in setting people free?

This is a real question you need to answer for yourself.

What has taken your attention?

What has caused you to lose focus?

Have you made our collective call a priority?

Those things that cause us to lose our focus, some of them are important.

Some are not. We allow ourselves to get consumed with things that don’t have any eternal significance and we end up giving that insignificant thing priority over everything.

If we are not spending time with God and allowing Him to refocus us we are going to get distracted by life and often not even realize it.

We must be vigilant in pursuing God because the enemy is going to be vigilant in leading us away from God.

Church, we can no longer allow ourselves to make excuses.

As a culture, we are good at rationalizing things.

We rationalize why we don’t have time in our schedules.

we rationalize why we need that extra sleep.

Every one of us knows,

I could go on and on but the point I’m making and what we see happening is Israel doesn’t go to the father.

Look again at...

Exodus 32:1 ESV

1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Israel has a legitimate concern. In there defense, God has killed a lot of people.

In fact, God has been explicit with Israel that if they are to come too close, they will be killed.

Maybe Moses messed up, and God killed him.

That's not too far of a stretch, BUT rather than trying to find out, they let fear take hold, jumped to a conclusion, and demanded action.

Instead of asking and/or being patient, they take control.

This is the very thing that causes us to stray from God's leadership.

Things get uncomfortable, we get nervous or afraid, and instead of running to God for comfort and courage to be faithful, we run from God and create a solution on our own.

Being a father my kids run to, not from.

If we are spending time with God, growing our relationship, when hard things come up our responses will be different then they currently are.

If Israel really knew God instead of drawing back from Him, this wouldn’t have phased them.

The same is true for us.

Knowing God, by experience, is going bring peace during difficult circumstances.

How can we help one another make spending time with God a priority?

Our abiding in God needs to inform and determine our actions.

Exodus 32:2–10 ESV

2 So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” 6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. 7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ” 9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

This is our favorite trick.

We, just like Israel, try to take our idea and make it look like it was God all along by interjecting our ideas into what God has spoken.

This is our favorite trick.

We take something we want, call it God, and then move forward.

Who can argue with someone that says it’s God’s will?

We can!

This is the very reason that our church has been structured the way it is.

We all have the same Holy Spirit in us and if we are all asking the same question, we are all going to get the same answer.

This is system what has and will continue to safe guard us from dissension.

Exodus 32:4–6 ESV

4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” 6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

Isreal didn't remove God from their worship; they added a calf to it and called it a god too.

Isreal didn't remove God from their worship; they added a calf to it and called it a god too.

Why do we do that? Why did Israel? It all goes back to the beginning. We are lied to and told that God isn't enough.

How do you make most of your decisions? Do you ask God or do you just decide and then ask God to bless it?

We become convinced that what God is doing isn't sufficient for MY problem.

I want to point out something really obvious.

Do people still say duh? Is there a different expression now?

I’m not going to ask you to notice it because Russ hates it when he says that.

As you read this passage, who isn't struggling with fear and uncertainty and why?

Moses isn't, and I'll tell you why. He's with God!

Just take a moment and think about that. I'll wait.

Everyone else in this story is panicking, yet no one speaks up and asks Aaron to seek God.

If you are struggling in any area of your life, this is the answer. Abide in Christ.

If fear, anxiety, or uncertainty is holding you captive, the fix is being in the presence of God.

The fact that Israel wasn't in God's presence was precisely the issue.

They were near it, but not in it.

You living near someone who is regularly in God's presence isn't sufficient.

You cannot abide or grow in faith through another's experiences.

Do you know why? When we are living vicariously through someone else, we put more stock in what they say than in what God says.

God's call to leadership doesn't make a person infallible.

When we are relying on someone else to hold the place in our lives that is reserved for God, we are setting ourselves and that person up for failure.

Russ made this same point last week, so I won't beat a dead horse, but it is a big part of this story.

Israel had their faith, not in God, but in the leaders God gave them.

their trust was misplaced.

God certainly puts people in leadership over us, but the intent is not that we omit our relationship with God.

I am held responsible by God, for your spiritual growth, but so are you!

I am so thankful to God that we are an elder-led church and that I don't have to bear the weight of leading this body on my own.

I don't know how pastors can do this job without the help of other Godly people.

I believe the root of many problems that the SBC is dealing with right now is due to either the leadership demanding autonomy or the church refusing to obey their call to join God.

Israel, under Aaron's supervision, immediately breaks the first three commandments.

The way this passage reads, it seems that some of the people come against Aaron in demanding an idol.

They placed all the burden on Aaron

Based on Aaron's responses, it seems that he didn't even try to counter them.

The fault here isn't on Aaron alone, yes he was left in charge, but the desire of Israel's heart wasn't to follow through with the commitment they just made.

All of us are susceptible to being swayed from following God. We all need to be diligent in our daily pursuit of God to prevent lies from becoming truth in our minds.

We also need to be willing to speak out to one another when we think they are missing what God is saying.

Unlike Israel, we have been given the Holy Spirit so that we aren't doing this on our own.

As recipients of the Holy Spirit, the expectation is that we are praying for one another and seeking God.

When we are all collectively doing that, it insures that our faith is in God, not one another, and it insures that no one abuses the leadership they have been given.

How do we handle it if we think someone in our body is misrepresenting God?

How should Aaron have responded to Israel?

What can we do to set ourselves and our leaders up for success?

Interceding for others matters.

Exodus 32:11–14 ESV

11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

God's response to Israel's breach of the covenant was enough to cause God to want to destroy them all.

God's response to Israel's breach of the covenant was enough to cause God to want to destroy them all.

Something very curious happens. Moses intercedes on Israel's behalf.

Later in the passage he is even going to offer himself over to God’s wrath in place of Israel.

foreshadowing much?

God has all the power and authority to deal with us as He sees fit.

Can you blame God for being upset with Israel?

I had a circumstance a while back when someone committed to doing something for me that was a big deal.

This breaking of the door this week is an excellent example.

It wasn't just going to affect me, it also made a difference in the life of my family.

At the last minute, that person backed out for what was arguably an incredibly shallow and selfish reason.

My anger was burning hot, to say the least.

My anger was burning hot, to say the least.

We have spent so much time, energy, and what little money we have on loving the children of this community, and they repay us by breaking the doors.

We have spent so much time, energy, and what little money we have on loving the children of this community, and they repay us by breaking the doors.

I shared this on Facebook Friday night. So you can go look at my post on our page for all the details.

I was so mad when I got a message from David that they were broken. AGAIN.

In the middle of that frustration, I just brought it to God and asked him again how we are to deal with it.

I’ll be honest, my prayer initially was for them, but also for you and I. I was upset and I’m about as close to these kids as anybody is.

So as I’m praying, I’m asking God to change my heart, but also to change yours.

God told me to continue to love them and pray for them.

Moses wasn't required to intercede for Israel, but because he loved them, he did.

As we can see, it made all the difference in the world. Before Moses interceded, God was going to wipe them out and start over.

Before Moses goes down the mountain, God offers to kill them all and start over with just Moses.

Because of his love for his people, Moses asks God not to pour out His wrath on all of them, and it saves them.

God puts people in our lives that desperately need God, and all we can do is pray for them. That's the B in BLESS.

Our prayers are heard by God and can be the difference in their lives, and as followers of Christ, it is our call.

Tell the story of being asked if I enjoy preaching...

My initial response was yes, but as I thought about it, I realized that it is because doing what God has made me passionate about brings joy.

When we intercede for someone else, it changes our hearts.

It causes us to love them and see them how God sees them.

This is why Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies.

They are changed, but so are we.

This is the kind of people that God is calling us to be.

How has God changed your heart as you have prayed for someone?

How have you seen God change that person as you prayed?

How you respond to the covenant you made with God has exponential ramifications.

Exodus 32:15–29 ESV

15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. 16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. 17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 18 But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” 19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it. 21 And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” 22 And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” 25 And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27 And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’ ” 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. 29 And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”

Responses are significant, and we often fail to realize that our response affects more than just us.

Responses are significant, and we often fail to realize that our response affects more than just us.

It doesn't matter who you are or what you do, your decisions have an impact on everyone around you.

The reason I’m saying that our responses have exponential ramifications is that the longer you choose to live in disobedience, the further you are getting from God's will.

The further you get from His will, the more it is going to take to get you back on track.

Teachers- how you respond to the disruption in your classroom affects the rest of the day, month, or even year.

Parents - how you respond to your child's behavior now, ultimately affects what kind of adult they will be.

Employees - how you respond to your co-workers affects the quality of your work.

In turn, how others respond to us determines many things about our lives.

I would be willing to bet that every person in this church could tell a story of how someone else's decision hurt them or a loved one.

I would also bet that you had a response to that action.

Aaron's decision to give in to the request of the people had a hugely negative impact on every person there, including Moses.

Can you share a time when you didn’t follow God and it affected people in your life?

What about a time when you did follow God and it affected people in your life?

Moses responds with righteous anger towards Israel and Aaron.

They had just committed to living in covenant with God. They just said, "all the things God has said we will do."

Can you share a time when you didn’t follow God and it affected people in your life?

Moses confronts the sins of Israel head-on. He throws down the tablets, rushes in, destroys the calf, makes them drink it (eww), goes straight to Aaron, and demands an explanation.

Aaron's response cracks me up because, as a child, I told so many stories like this.

Tell the story of digging the hole in the back yard when I was a kid.

I dug the hole. It was a good hole.

When confronted by my dad, I swore it was there when I went outside that morning.

The point is, God knows. He knows our hearts and our intentions.

We can lie, make excuses, and share the blame till the cows come home and it won’t matter.

My dad knew that I dug that hole, because of simple deduction.

God knows because He’s God.

Moses had a decision to make on how he was going to respond when he comes down off the mountain.

His decision to confront their sin is his role to play as their leader.

Sometimes the things we are called to do aren't fun, but if God has called us to something, you can bet the farm that it is essential.

For the sake of clarification on what our call as believers, and specifically as a body of believers at TGP West, is to love people enough to join God, even when it’s hard, to set people free.

We cannot accomplish our call if we are not:

pursuing God daily

abiding as we go through our day

interceding on behalf of those that God has called us too

saying yes regardless of the call.

David Platt’s example of writing a blank check.

To follow God is to daily write blank checks and depend on God to put the money in the bank that will be required.

Our response to the covenant God made with us is to pursue Him and to love others.